I still remember the first day I met her… I was walking from the main road of my college and she was coming from the opposite direction towards me… we said “Hello” and went ahead.Some days later I started looking for a room partner and came to know that she’s also looking for a new accommodation.
She came to the place where I was staying as a paying guest the next evening. That was the first time I really noticed her. We started talking about the general things and before I knew it we were well into deep conversation… right from our family backgrounds, educational backgrounds to current movies! It was suddenly as if we had known each other for years… the ease with which we dived into confiding things with each other was unknown to me, who till that time was an introvert person! I precisely remember the instant connection I felt with her when at the end of this same meeting she started telling me about her parents and could not stop her tears as she explained about their love for their daughters. As a person who had never experienced such open expression of emotion so far, I was amazed, I understood and I felt bonded with her right there!
Things went from good to great there onwards… she moved-in in the same paying guest accommodation as me, and we soon became the best buddies, room-mates and college-mates. During the first few months we discovered that we were the anti-bodies of each other. I was the introvert, studious one with a well-to-do family background while she was the open, talkative and not-at-all-studious one with a not-rich family background. I guess opposites-attract really did hold true for us… not only that but we kind of balanced each other.
She taught me caring, she taught me expression of love.
I remember the day she first hugged me impulsively and gave me a kiss on the cheek and after my initial shock I returned the same to her. I remember the countless beautiful birthday cards, friendship cards we shared. I remember the small inexpensive yet most meaningful gifts we exchanged. I remember the funny writings we made on each others notebooks. I remember her writing on my diary that she hates this diary for it holds the secrets that I don’t share with her. I remember the long nights where we would sit on the balcony of our room, staring at the dark sky with the background music of some old songs and talk about nothing and everything. I remember sharing all our hopes, dreams, plans and ambitions with each other...
I remember the day during our last days of college when we were on a local train and suddenly realized that these are the last days when we would be staying together. I remember the choking whirlpool of emotions, the unstoppable tears, the haste to stop them for people were staring yet not being able to do so…
I remember the acceptance of the fact that this how life will have to move on for us… I remember the deep sense of loss when we both left the college days behind and moved towards our individual lives… apart from each other…
I remember her – as she was then - my best friend… because with her I remember myself!